NEWBORN SCREENING

(a) Each midwife who attends the birth of a child shall cause the newborn screening tests to be performed on blood specimens taken from the child as required by Chapter 33, Health and Safety Code. (b) A midwife may collect blood specimens for the newborn screening tests if the midwife has been approved by the department to collect the specimen. The commission shall adopt rules establishing the standards for approval. The standards must recognize completion of a course of instruction that includes the blood specimen collection procedure or verification by appropriately trained health care providers that the midwife has been instructed in the blood collection procedures. (c) A midwife who is not approved to collect blood specimens for newborn screening tests shall refer a client and her newborn to an appropriate health care facility or physician for the collection of the blood specimen and submission of the specimen to the department. (d) If the midwife has been approved by the department to collect blood specimens under this section, the collection by the midwife of blood specimens for the required newborn screening tests does not constitute the practice of medicine as defined by Subtitle B.